Pleasant Surprises
by StormOfImagination
Summary: A/U: When JJ returns home from the Pentagon with a newborn baby, secrets may make or break her return...
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys. :) Again with the advertising... You guys can chat with me at either my Facebook (Stormofimagination Fanfiction) or my twitter dedicated entirely to writing, ThisCMWriterGal!**

**Also, many thanks to Sugarhigh for giving me this prompt via Facebook!**

_"Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths." - Criss Jami_

"No." Emily said softly, seeing right past the false smile JJ had plastered on her face. The team stood and moved towards her, their faces in various stages of confusion and sadness.

"Wait a minute, I thought Hotch was supposed to,-" Morgan started to say, but JJ cut him off, not wanting to hear anything from her lover, already trying to distance herself.

"It's above his paygrade. Strauss' too." JJ said softly, but she wasn't making eye contact with anyone. A silence fell for a moment as they took it just what it was she was saying.

"They can't just take you away." Spencer said quietly, and JJ's heart went out to the young genius, who was her close friend and confidante.

"so we do nothing?" Emily asked, obviously displeased with the entire situation. JJ nodded with a sigh.

"It's done." she said quietly. Derek shook his head, anger pulsing just behind his dark eyes.

"It can't be that simple." he said, and for the first time since she'd left the conference room, she made eye contact with the older man who had been her best friend and lover over the last few months.

"It is." JJ said bluntly, looking away and plastering a sad smile on her face as she turned to look at Rossi, who looked upset, but was still quiet.

"This job is already hard enough, what are they trying to do, bury us?" Morgan asked, his control over his temper starting to slip, obvious to everyone. He had turned away from JJ, almost asking the others.

"You're too good, that's the problem." Emily said with a nod, her tone almost sarcastic as she addressed JJ.

"It's true. You're on everybody's wishlist." Rossi said bitterly. "Our loss is somebody else's gain." Emily nodded in agreement, and JJ felt tears prickling in the back of her eyes, wishing there was some way to make this easier on them.

"They can't just take you away." Spencer said quietly, repeating his earlier words. Emily looked away, but Derek again tried to make eye contact with JJ, but she couldn't bring her eyes up. JJ stepped towards Spencer and put a hand on his arm, watching as the genius tried to hide his near , JJ pulled away and walked down the hall to Garcia's office, and as she walked away, Morgan couldn't help but feel that this was the last time he would see her for a very long time.

When she stepped into the lair, Garcia was shutting off her monitors for the night. She leaned against one side of the doorframe, folding her arms, knowing the TA was almost never here this late. "You're still here?" JJ said softly.

Garcia turned slowly until she faced JJ, leaning against the table. "Figured you'd get to me eventually." she said quietly. "You're leaving?" at JJ's nod, Garcia sighed. "You could've told me. I would've done something, I would've made it impossible for them to let you go, I would've put something in your file,"

"It's not up to me." JJ said, cutting off the TA before she rambled. "Or Hotch."

"Don't they understand that we're a family, that that's why this works is because we're a family, do they even care?" Garcia asked, frustrated.

"i don't know." JJ said, holding eye contact with Garcia, who looked about ready to burst into tears.

"I can't believe you." Garcia said quietly, but shook her head slightly and heaved a sigh. "No, that's.. I'm supposed to say this is a great opportunity, which it is." the analyst stepped toward her until she was only a few feet way. "I don't know the way this place works without you. You're like, the glue around here, whose going to make us feel safe?"

JJ shook her head, almost sadly amused. "There's plenty of big strong men around." she said bitterly, thinking of the fact that while she was leaving, Morgan would be here to have his way with anyone he chose.

But Garcia didn't see the undertones, having never known of their relationship. "See that, right there, your total ignorance to how awesome you are, is one of five million things I love about you." with eveery word, the analyst was closer to tears.

"I'm still gonna be in the city." JJ said, shrugging slightly. "More than normal, probably."

Garcia swallowed hard. "True." she said quietly. "and then we'll make a plan, breakfast every... Tuesday, and then life gets in the way, and what if I only see you on birthdays, and holidays?" JJ's heart broke at the sad words.

Standing slightly, JJ caught Garcia's eyes. "I won't let that happen." she said softly.

Garcia swallowed hard and nodded. "Okay." she said hesitantly. "You want to walk out with me?"

JJ shook her head slightly, apologetic. "I've got one last thing I need to do." she said, holding up the exit interview. Garcia nodded, hugging her and walking out. As JJ followed, walking through the bullpen to walk up to her office, she could feel Derek's eyes burning into her.

Secrets were killer sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: So, I'm glad you guys took this so well! With the new CM photoshoot out, I'm just going insane with plot ideas. ;-;**

_"Sometimes people surprise us. People we believe we know."- Joyce Carol Oates_

It shouldn't have surprised JJ when the familiar knock came at her door as she was packing. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she took a moment before she went to open the door, knowing that Morgan was sure to be furious. Before he even had a chance to speak, she turned and walked into the living room to continue packing, knowing that it would be better to distance herself from him.

She lifted a stack of books off the shelf and tucked them into the box sitting on the chair next to her, but when she went to turn and grab the next stack, the familiar hands grabbed her arms just below her shoulders and held her still, effectively stopping any movement.

"Are you done shutting me out now?" Morgan asked, tilting JJ's chin up so she was looking at him, his eyes barely concealing the anger and hurt that danced there. "Because I'd really like to know just what the hell you think you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything except what I have to." JJ retorted, not in the mood to play mind games with the man who was, had been, her lover. "I'm not leaving because I want to, Morgan." she knew that using his last name would get under his skin, but she wasn't in the mood for a guilt trip.

Derek's eyes only darkened further. "So we're resorting back to work names now, huh?" he snapped, pulling away from her and folding his arms. "That's real mature."

"What would you like, Morgan?" JJ asked. "We were sleeping together, nothing more, which, I believe, was your suggestion. I'm not going to be crying because I got a job promotion and I had to cut off my friend with benefits." she turned to grab the next stack of books and tucked them into the box.

"I'm not asking for anything more, Jen, I'm asking for an explanation of why in the hell none of us knew about this earlier!" Morgan snapped. "And I mean none of us, besides you and Hotch!"

"Why didn't you guys know?" JJ asked, turning to face him and putting her hands on her hips. "Oh, I know, because I didn't know until about two days ago!" she was already having a rough day, and she really didn't want to deal with his melodrama.

"You could've told us then!" Morgan said, throwing his hands up. "but no, the high and mighty Jennifer Jareau has to handle everything on her own!" JJ's eyes narrowed and her hands tightened on her hips.

"No, don't you start." JJ hissed. "Do you know how much I've had to deal with lately? No, because I do twice your job. And if it makes you feel better to be angry about the fact that our little deal is cut off, that's your problem. Because I can't stay. I don't get an option in this, contrary to popular belief."

Morgan grabbed her arms and pulled her against his chest, kissing her roughly. "Damn right I'm angry." he said. "Because I started that little deal with you because I thought that was the best I was gonna get from a high and mighty country girl like you. I've been in love with you since the first time you were curled up next to me, asleep. And I'm sorry if the fact that I'm upset about my number 1 girl walking out of my life for a better job makes me angry, because it does, and that's life."

JJ pulled away from Derek. "It's time for you to go." she said bluntly. "I have packing to do."

Derek frowned deeply, the hurt flashing through his eyes before his walls went back up. "Fine. Have a good life." he said. "Maybe this time you'll get off your high horse and find someone." As he stood and turned to leave, he shrugged into his jacket and walked out the door.

Swallowing hard, JJ couldn't help but think she just chased away her last supporter, and she still hadn't announced the big news.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hey guys. Many thanks to Sanders9876 for bringing it to my attention that this story was tagged under Emily/Morgan, not JJ/Morgan like I meant it to be. I've changed it over.**

_"He'd kept this silence because his own secrets were darker, more hidden, and because he believed that his secrets had created hers." - Kim Edwards_

It had never been harder for JJ to walk out the door. She knew, rationally, that she should; she had work soon and she needed to spend as much time with her team as she could before she left. But the tiny part of her mind that was cold and heartbroken couldn't help but be spiteful and angry; reminding her of the nasty fight with Derek, reminding her that if she went to work, went to her office, he would be there, angry and aggressive and wanting to continue the argument from the night before. But she couldn't handle that, not again. She'd spent the greater part of the night crying, wishing that she could take bad what she said.

JJ shook her head. If there was one thing that Jennifer Jareau was good at, it was compartmentalizing, even the worst of things. And this was nothing compared to the cases she looked over on a daily basis. It was a little argument between... well, between whatever the hell she and Morgan were. She had a duty to her job, her team, and she would uphold that until the day she left.

So with a deep breath, she opened the door and walked out, heading towards the car that would take her to her second home.

Despite her best efforts, her lack of energy that morning had her arriving at work nearly ten minutes late. Knowing that the combination of her new job, her fight with Derek, and the unusual tardiness would draw attention to her if she just waltzed through the bullpen, she was grateful she'd worn practical shoes as she planned to go through her 'backway.' Her secret backway was only partially an entrance; she had long ago grown into the habit of leaving her window open in her office, and she had found that if she went up to the next floor, she could take the fire escape down and through her window, directly into her office, avoiding any awkward conversations in the bullpen.

So, as she clambered into her office, she was grateful for the silence of her office. It gave her time to think, to brace herself for the tough day to come, and it hid her from the awkward explanation of why she was wrong, not to mention avoiding Morgan.

Morgan. As her mind drifted to her lover, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt as she realized how harsh she had been the night before. It wasn't uncommon for them to quibble from time to time, but they'd never fought like this, never this aggressively. Morgan would get jealous about something she did with Spencer or Hotch, she'd argue that they were nothing more than friends with benefits.

He'd said he loved her. That was what shocked her more than anything else. Derek Morgan, the king of playboys, flirtatious best friend, door-killing FBI agent, was in love with her. Not one of his bimbos, not Garcia, not Emily, but her. Simple small-town Jennifer Jareau, who couldn't get off her high horse long enough to realize that friends with benefits wasn't going to be enough for him... for either of them.

Her words hit her with a crushing reality check. For either of them? God, how had she ignored it? JJ hung her head in her hands, suddenly realizing why this was so hard for her- Sure, she was going to miss the team and was angry that she had no vote in the promotion, but that wasn't all of it. She'd been a little upset to be torn away from her friend with benefits, but she'd blamed the rest of her over-emotional state to be on the fact she was losing the team. But the nightly tears weren't because of the team; as much as she loved them, it was because she'd fallen in love.

She'd fallen in love with Derek Morgan.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hey guys. Many thanks to all of you who have tolerated my odd schedule and have reminded me to update. I'd love to hear more from you guys, make sure you look into my facebook and twitter!**

_"Even in the familiar there can be surprise and wonder." - Tierney Gaeron_

JJ's last week passed all too quickly. She found herself standing in her office, her box of personal things on the couch across the room as she looked out the window, taking in the view for the last time. She heard someone come in from behind her, but she didn't feel it was necessary to turn and see who it was. She was lost in a world where this wasn't happening, where all she saw was the memories she had kept over all the years.

"Jayje." Derek said softly, leaning against the doorframe of her office, his arms crossed as he looked at her. She turned around to look at him, startled. "Are you okay?" The team had noticed that she hadn't been feeling well, with the nausea and headaches, but she had told them it was from stress.

JJ shrugged slightly, still tense around him. They had figured out the worst of their problems over lunch, but they still weren't back to their old selves. Derek had been willing to help her pack, even moving the boxes into the Uhaul when she got dizzy.

"I'm gonna miss it here." she said quietly, not wanting to answer the question. "The people, the work in the field." she laughed bitterly. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but I will. I have to go be the SOD's media liaison. It's not the same as the work I love."

Derek stepped forward and gently put his hands on both of JJ's arms, making sure to give her the space that she was still feeling like she needed. "We'll miss you too." he said gently. "All of us. And Hotch is going to be trying his hardest to get you back to us as soon as we can. I promise. Nobody is going to replace you."

JJ shook her head slightly. "You guys need someone to replace me, Morgan." she said quietly. "Hotch can't do his job and mine all at once, even if he recruits one of you guys to help. It'll be more work than he has already, and he's already starting to burn out."

"We don't need someone new." Derek insisted gently. "We'll all split the work with Hotch. I'll make sure that he doesn't burn out, that Spencer isn't over working himself. I'll take care of them while you're gone. Just think of it as an extended leave."

JJ shook her head. "On an extended leave I would be somewhere I wanted to be." she said bitterly. "With people I wanted to be around. This is definitely not either of those. They're tearing me away from everything and everyone I love." She sighed as her phone beeped. "That's my cue to go."

Morgan stood up, his arms on either side of her as he gently pushed her back against the wall, his gaze intent. "Derek, what are you doing?" JJ asked, his gaze stealing her breath away.

"I'm making sure you don't forget me." he answered simply. He leaned down for a moment and kissed her softly, JJ's hands locking behind his neck as the kiss deepened. After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled apart, but their eyes stayed locked on each others. Morgan pulled away and just walked out, leaving JJ to sort out her final affairs before she left.

"Like I could forget you." JJ whispered. Her finals words said, she took her box of personal belongings, shifting them over one hip, and walked out of the office, taking her last steps in the BAU and her first steps towards the Pentagon.. taking her biggest secret with her.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I'm so not ready to go back to school. What are you looking forward to about going back to school? Tweet me ThisCMWriterGal and let me know! Or, if you have a fic question/ask for advice/questions in general, I'm willing to talk!**

_"How ridiculous and how strange to be surprised at anything which happens in life." - Marcus Aurelius_

9 Months Later

9 months. It had been 9 months since she had left for the Pentagon, left her life behind, left behind the one man who was constantly on her mind. She hadn't visited, gone to see them; not because she didn't want to, but because it would give away the one secret that she had tried to keep to herself, tried to keep from the others that would take away from the one thing she loved.

The Pentagon wasn't a bad job by any means. It paid well, the hours were nine to five that made her life much more stable, and the staff was much more friendly. But it still could never be the BAU; she loved it there. The Pentagon was impersonal, harsh, filled with thousands of people that worked their jobs and went home every day; the BAU was friendly, tight-knit, and she knew everybody on her team both out of work and in the office. While she was certainly enjoying her time in the Pentagon, and was learning much more about being a press liaison, she would always miss the BAU.

And it wasn't always just the job she missed. She missed the people. She missed the colors Garcia brought to the office and the comfort of her office, the one place to escape from the horror for just a while and talk with her best friend. She missed Emily's quiet support and the feeling of safety she got from her- the girl may have been new when JJ left, but she trusted her with her life, and more importantly, her teams lives. She missed Reid's constant flow of statistics and genius remarks, the way he did reports three times the speed of everyone else, the way he was still so shy and confused about how society worked. She missed Hotch's occasional smile, the deadpan jokes, the way he knew whenever something was wrong and he would talk her through it. She missed Rossi's endearing Italian nicknames, missed the way he would go over and color code his notes and files.

But most importantly, she missed Morgan. They hadn't left on the best of terms, but they were at least talking; now, she couldn't help but wish she had taken the time to fix them, make sure he knew that she loved him as much as he claimed to love her, make sure that he would be okay while he was gone. Most mornings she woke up after dreams of what they used to have to find her pillow soaked with tears, her arms reaching out towards the man who wasn't in the bed next to her.

It was true that they had started as friends with benefits. They never intended to get attached. That's why Morgan's confession the night of their fight startled her. She had started to grow emotionally attached to him, but was trying her hardest to deny it, to make it easier on herself when he grew bored with her and moved on with another one of his bimbos. But she would never have expected that Morgan would be the one to announce his feelings first, let alone develop feelings for her. He worked so hard to build this playboy image, to make it seem like that he was only with those girls for the sex and nothing else.

So, as she looked at his daughter wrapped in her arms, the daughter she had worked so hard to keep a secret from him and the team, she couldn't help but feel a swell of pride. When she had first found out, she had been devestated; she was sure that Morgan would've run out, panicked, not wanted anything to do with her at all. But as she looked at her baby blue eyes and mocha skin, she couldn't help but hope he would take the arrival of his daughter well.

Sarah was a beautiful little girl, and JJ was already falling in love with her. Once she had been born, she had contacted the Pentagon the next day, officially turning in her resignation. Her next call was to the BAU; talking with Strauss, the older woman not only agreed to let her come back, but agreed to keep her secret until JJ got there.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hey y'all. I've just been a writing slump lately, but with the new CM, I'll try my hardest to update. It's really hard for me with school and all, but I didn't forget you, my lovelies.**

_"That of all people, it should be him; that took her aback. That the heart should settle on somebody like him; that surprised her. But she was so certain about it, so certain."-Alexander McCall Smith_

**11 Months Later**

It was almost a year, and JJ was finally coming home. As Morgan heard what Hotch said, a mix of emotions flooded his head, and more importantly, his heart. He knew that he had every right to be excited, even ecstatic- he hadn't been able to get JJ out of his head, to the point of losing his playboy ways. He hadn't been with a girl other than her since before they had even gotten together, and he couldn't bring himself to change that now.

He had missed the blonde with every ounce in his body. Not just the physical aspect of their relationship, but everything about her. The way she tilted her head back when she laughed, the way she gently shook her head, the smirk crossing her face when something amused her- the way she was so perfect and yet, she had no idea just how perfect she was.

But there was still something in him that couldn't wrap his head around forgiving her instantly after what had been said before she left, the argument they had when he had come to her home and found her packing her belongings.

_"We were sleeping together, nothing more."_

_"I'm not going to be crying because I got a job promotion and I had to cut off my friend with benefits."_

_"It's time for you to go."_

She didn't know, would never know, just how much those words had haunted him for the long nights that she'd been at the Pentagon. For hours, he would toss and turn, just thinking that night over and over again, thinking of all the things she said, all the things he said, all the things that could've gone differently if he'd just gotten over himself and been happy for her, maybe even suggesting that they try a real relationship when he'd started to feel something more for her, instead of shoving his feelings back.

But he didn't, and now, 11 months later, he couldn't help but wonder how different she would be, how much the job had changed her. Had she found someone, like he'd shouted at her? Had she met some fine southern cowboy who knocked her off her feet? Or was she still the same old JJ, the same girl he knew from the beginning of the BAU, the same girl who became one of his closest friends, the same girl that had stolen his heart, knocking Derek Morgan off the game he invented.

Maybe this time, they could do things right. Sure, it was true, he hadn't always been much for the take it slow, one date at a time approach. But he'd jumped right into the deep end with JJ before, and it hadn't worked for them. So, maybe if they took it slow, if he took the time to treat her right, maybe they'd actually be okay. Maybe they'd be more than friends, more than just fringe benefits. And that was what he wanted more than anything else in the world, to know that he was the one to light up Jennifer's beautiful face, the one that made her cheeks stain pink, the one that made her never want to say goodbye. She was so beautiful to him, and she didn't seem to realize that she was his whole world. He only hoped that he could be her whole world someday.

So, as he stood and left the conference room, Hotch's words still ringing in his head, he took no time in striding to his desk, grabbing the trademark leather jacket, his gun and keys, tucking his cell phone in his pocket, and walked out of the BAU. In just hours, the girl who was his life would be back home, back to where he could see her everyday, back to where she would be a constant in his life.. or so he hoped.

As he walked to his SUV, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road, he couldn't fight the smile that split his features, nor the butterflies that stirred in his stomach. He was normally the one that made girls feel this way, not the other way around. So, he settled in for what he knew would be a long night, waiting and watching the time pass by with Clooney until he could come back to the office and see that JJ truly was home.

His mind drifted back to the first night she actually stayed with him.

They'd slept together, as was their usual, but this time, impulsively, he'd asked her to stay, and to his surprise, she'd agreed. Since she had only worn jeans and a t-shirt over, he loaned her a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt, and she'd looked better in his clothes than he ever did.

She'd curled up, content to just let him hold her. Before he knew it, the beautiful blonde was asleep on his chest, crushed as close to him as she could be, her breathing soft and even as her hair fell around her face like some kind of halo. She looked so innocent in her sleep- a kind of peace that he wished he could see every night. Without a touch of makeup, her face glowed with a natural beauty that made his jaw drop every time he thought about it.

When they'd woken up the next morning, it hadn't been awkward, like he'd worried- in fact, just the opposite. JJ was a good sport, laughing and teasing just like it was any day, and they made sure to get her home in time to change and clean up, so that the team would have no evidence, no reason, to believe that she'd spent the night with him. Even then, he'd known he was starting to fall for her, fall harder than ever before, but he couldn't let himself believe that anything between them would work. Between the fraternization rules at the office and the criticism of his friends over his old behavior, he knew that nothing between them would be supported, and that would kill JJ. He couldn't bring himself to do anything that might hurt her, so he kept his feelings to himself and let life go on as usual, unaware at the time that it would become a pattern that neither of them would be able to kick.


End file.
